CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For once, Luka Doncic had to serve the punishment. For not hitting any half-court shots during his pregame warmup, Doncic had to drop to the court and give his coaching staff push-ups.
The exercise seemingly powered him up for the two-handed dunk to come.
Doncic dazzled in the Lakers’ 121-111 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at Spectrum Center, scoring 38 points with seven assists, six rebounds and one emphatic third-quarter dunk to help the Lakers flush the memories of a blowout loss in Atlanta.
“It was fun, not only because he got the dunk,” coach JJ Redick said, “but just him letting out some emotion.”
Doncic exorcised the demons of a 20-point loss to Atlanta on Saturday in which the Lakers (8-3) led for only 19 seconds and pulled the starters before the third quarter. He spent the majority of that game bickering with officials. He missed six three-pointers and had five turnovers.
On Monday, Doncic was back to joking with Austin Reaves about who had the better deadball three-quarters-court heave after Reaves returned from a three-game absence with 24 points and seven assists.
“I was pushing him to get back,” said Doncic, who made a 70-foot shot after the whistle and wanted to make sure Reaves knew it was longer than his 50-footer. “I needed him back. … He’s an amazing player.”
Reaves, who was out because of a right groin strain, said he wanted to play against Atlanta but was held out for precautionary reasons. He played one minute and 25 seconds over his supposed 28-minute restriction Monday. Everything felt great, he said, except his jump shot.
When Doncic assisted him on a three-pointer with 8:01 remaining in the fourth, Reaves put his arms up and threw his head back in relief. He had missed his first seven three-point attempts and finished two for 10 from three-point range.
With Reaves’ return, the Lakers are one player closer to a healthy roster. LeBron James is scheduled to practice with the South Bay Lakers this week as he progresses through right sciatica.
Rookie Adou Thiero (left knee surgery recovery) also is close to returning. Redick estimated the forward could make his NBA debut during the trip, which has three games remaining, starting Wednesday at Oklahoma City. The defending NBA champions are 10-1.
“They’re the No. 1 team right now,” forward Rui Hachimura said. “So we got to be ready for the war on Wednesday.”
Hachimura scored 21 points Monday with perfect three-for-three shooting from three-point range. In addition to seven steals from Marcus Smart, Hachimura quietly starred on defense, helping the Lakers hold the Hornets to 38 combined points in the second and third quarters.
Reaves announced his presence by throwing a lob to Deandre Ayton for the Lakers’ first basket. After Charlotte (3-7) blitzed the Lakers with eight three-pointers in the first quarter to take a 40-36 lead, Reaves answered by scoring seven of the Lakers’ first 10 points in the second. He gave the team a jolt of energy by racing for a transition layup to beat the halftime buzzer, giving the Lakers a two-point lead.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves shoots over Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges during the first half Monday.
(Chris Carlson / Associated Press)
“He’s an All-Star-level player,” Redick said before the game. “He’s, along with Luka, an incredibly dynamic offensive player. I think our depth increases, the lineup optionality increases, so not having him in the lineup really, really hurts us.”
The Lakers went 2-1 in games without Reaves, but the blowout in Atlanta was so striking that Redick was left questioning the identity of his team. Redick waved the white flag by the middle of the third quarter after the starting unit let the deficit balloon to 25.
With Doncic and Reaves back, the Lakers wouldn’t repeat their third-quarter woes.
The Lakers started the second half with an 11-4 run that forced the Hornets to call a timeout. Reaves then assisted on a three-pointer from Hachimura that pushed the lead into double digits. Doncic hit a step-back three to put the Lakers up by 12. Doncic’s assist to Hachimura extended the lead to 17.
A driving, two-handed dunk was the exclamation point, stunning the Charlotte crowd as Doncic hung on the rim and screamed for a three-point play. Doncic can dunk, he insisted after the game.
“I just don’t want to all the time,” he added with a slight grin.
With two dunks this season — including a barely-there slam at home against Minnesota that his teammates don’t officially count — he already doubled his total from last season.
“Finally,” Smart said. “The way he be getting by [defenders], he’s always acting. Might as well go and dunk it one time. I guess you gotta piss him off for that.”